Incumbent Breckenridge loses trustee seat

When Phil Eskew Jr. wakes up Saturday morning, he'll begin his term as the newest member of the IU board of trustees. In a surprising upset of incumbent trustee Cora Breckenridge, Eskew won the seat, receiving more than 9,000 of the 31,650 votes cast by IU alumni.\n"It came out of nowhere," said Doug McKinney, library statistical data analysist.\nEskew beat out candidate Steve Sanders with 6,555 votes and Breckenridge with 5,503. As Breckenridge and Sanders stood anxiously in the library while 20 students and faculty counted votes, Eskew was nowhere to be seen. He is a physician from Carmel, Ind., who has delivered more than 5,000 infants. \nBreckenridge gave hugs to friends as she left defeated, yet still upbeat and positive about her service. She wished her University well and said she has plenty to keep her busy now that her role as trustee is over.\n"I did the best I could do," Breckenridge said. "I can see my tenure is just about over. It's been a great run. I will remain a loyal and dedicated alumni."\nOnlookers were surprised that the candidate who didn't heavily campaign won the seat so handily. Patricia Steele, interim dean of libraries, said she thought it was amazing that there was such a disparity with seven candidates. \nMcKinney ran the elaborate counting process that involved opening all envelopes, separating votes into separate piles of 50 per candidate, and double and triple counting.\n"Doug has the process fine tuned," Steele said. "This was one of the smoothest elections we've had."\nThe 20 counters had a full day of flipping through ballots that left them rubbing their shoulders by the end.\n"It took forever," said senior Ashley Banter. "My thumbs hurt after awhile."\nAn onlooker who was not directly involved helped shed some light on the importance of the election. The new trustee takes over tomorrow in what is shaping up to be a busy time as IU goes through its presidential search.\n"When you have a board this small, every member has to carry his or her own weight," said Bloomington resident Suzann Owen. "You can not afford to have anyone that doesn't make a contribution"